I have stayed in and around IT, I've been doing Information Security for the last 6 years, with a year spent in Enterprise Sales security which literally was the worst thing I've ever done.
Nobody believes my work journey but here goes anyway: Started at 17 in the Photography trade, shop work at first then Wedding & school photography Gave that up to sit the Navy board. Passed Officer selection, failed Aircrew so stupidly gave up on that idea (my one big job/life regret) Bought a third share in a Trawler out of Looe. Fished it for two years until airlifted off it during a catastrophic fire which destroyed the vessel. Got my pilots licence anyway & tried for another year to sit an instructor course. Mostly spent the year washing Cessna’s & refuelling Cherokees until life, lack of money & kids got in the way. Briefly got into the mortgage game, lasted two more years, left for a company car & a job in tech book sales. 20 years, company folded 2011 Retrained as a buildings energy surveyor, moved into commercial side after a few years. Headhunted 2019 by an old contact in the book & e-commerce industry. Still here now. I’m assuming that’s my lot, but who knows!
As said by El Toro, fell accidentally in to my main career. Left school with not many 0 Levels / CSE at all, always struggled with motivation at school, later found out I may have mild dyslexia ... which probably didn't help. Always wanted to do something in engineering, buy had no idea what, or how to get into it. Went round the local industrial estate knocking doors and asking for a job, which worked. I worked for Advanced Composite Components, making prototype composite components. As a job goes, I quite enjoyed it, managed to work on carbon fiber radar enclosures and reflectors for Marconi, body work for Honda (Freddy Spencer I think) development carbon brake discs for Honda, Ejector seat backs for Martin Baker, rocket launch tubes for MOD, inserts for false feet, spinnaker masts for racing yachts etc etc Got sacked from there after 2 or so years for decking someone Joined Metmachex and finished my Engineering HNC in Mech Eng, learnt TIG welding and precision turning from one of the best engineers ever ... Billy Ryde. Moved to a crane and hoist manufacturer, hirer and seller as a trainee Production Manager .... F'ing hated it, everyone just moaned at you, from above and below . And this is were the "fell in to it" happened, tried hire and sales .... and really enjoyed it. Got involved in some great contracts for lifting gear and materials handling, Dartford Bridge, Canary Wharf, Jubilee extension, Channel Tunnel, Nottinghamshire pits, off shore rigs etc etc Did the materials moving thing for 10 years, then while pi**ed off with a new Director, I looked around and got lured to the oil industry for better money and better company cars. Been in the Oil Industry Technical Sales since, almost 25 years - Field based for : Elf which then became Total / Elf Approached and asked to join Texaco, which then became Chevron Texaco Joined Exol Lubricants Will hopefully see my time out now at Exol. The oil industry has been good to me, and I've had some nice trips and blags out of it.
Was originally going to be a dentist but didn't get high enough grades Photography at college but failed my exams after two years and dropped out. This was followed by many years of 'interesting' jobs: building sites, wedding photographer, Our Price Records, selling arial photos of peoples houses amongst others. I finally started back working in a photographic studio. Moved to London and worked as a Rostrum Camera operator. Company went bust and I started a company with two other guys (when my wife was 6 months pregnant) doing presentations, producing events and computer graphics. The other two guys left over time and I carried on with it through thick and thin, got lucky with a few clients and ran it for 25 years in the end. Sold to a bigger company a few years ago and had to work for them for three years (very hard culture shock), but glad I got out when I did. Now retired and love to travel (not this year), volunteering, helping mentor students from my old college (no idea why they asked me given my record with them). Working for myself was a lucky opportunity and the best decision I ever made, until then it was just work, but after I started the business is when it really got interesting. Like others said, eventually you drop into your career if you are lucky.
Went to Rolls Royce from school and did my apprenticeship. Hated the 4 years there so left and went into my uncles joinery business. Plan was to take it over but after 4.5 years and too many arguments I joined a fabrication company that was a customer. Been there 6.5 years now and I run pretty much all the day to day stuff. Turnover has tripled and its a nice place to work, if a little hectic at times.
Left school at 16 in 1981 and enrolled on a YOP (youth opportunity program) £21.50 a week. This led on to an apprenticeship as a maintenance fitter. Worked all over the world. For the last 21 years I’ve been a field service engineer for a gas turbine company. As a field representative we cover all disciplines, mechanical, electrical, instruments and control systems.
Started by going to my dad's joinery at 9-10 years old so knew I Always was going to be a chippy, left school aged 14 without any state exams but served my time by 18 years old including technical college under a sponsored program, left my dad who was my employer at 18 and by 19 I started the company I still run now which is 26 years in December, still love my job but the lifestyle it provides is more important at this stage! A small look at what I do is below
Builder. Been doing it for 40yrs now. Do everything from garden retaining walls to big luxury houses. I do every aspect and am often there right from design stage to hanging pictures, incl roofing, tiling, painting fitting kitchens and making one off things like doors and decorative trusses where needed. I know it is not glamorous or highly paid but there is a huge element of job satisfaction that is totally missing from other jobs such as building project management. Which I have also done for about 5yrs in total. Here is a door I made from a slab of wood I was given, for my own place. Is assembled around the glass. God knows what I will do if it breaks!...
Left school with pretty well fuck all....a few CSE III's...when we took our "options" to those that remember them i had a leftover space and took....typing....got the piss ripped out of me but, my mate Roger ( who took it as well) said...."yeah but whose in a class of 30 women...! Ironically i excelled in it and passed every exam that i could take (pitmans III at the time where to just finish you had to be typing at 120wpm). Left school - went on YTS and got a job at an advertising studio as a typesetter, moved from there to another studio and got a job as a booksetter (typing skills came into their own then) in those days you had to type from manuscripts etc etc....got made redundant from there (living in a bedsit) i needed a job fast and took a job in a little manufacturing company that made stuff (by hand) out of mesh....stayed there for 8 years and decided i wanted to get into IT (always had a computer since i was 14) - went back to night school for 2 years and took some basic IT courses (NT and Netware admin along with TCPIP) scored my first IT job (stayed there for 3 years) got made redundant from there just after 9/11 and moved to where i am now. System administrator for 19 years or so, and i still feel imposter syndrome as, as ive said ive not got a qualification to my name and most engineers dont even get through the door without a masters degree in whatever discipline they have. Looking back at the point i got my first IT job we were renovating our first house and the plasterer asked if i wanted to renovate houses with him as i had a knack for it but didnt as id spent a load of time and money getting the IT qualifications....should have gone that way i think!!! Renovated 3 houses so far and have thoroughly enjoyed it...when the kids have gone ive got one more left in me....definately.
Building work ( sort of a family thing) from part time at school @14 yrs old, till 19 or so. Bikes led me to C&g 389?? at Stockport college, passed in late eighties . Whilst there I became more interested in the engineering, so bills and curiosity meant a job in engineering at a local (to me ) firm as a semi skilled machinist. After three years of evening classes the company agreed to sponsor me through ONC /HNC in Mechanical and production Engineering. Liked the technical, not so much the office. After nearly 14 yrs of that I went back into building, as a self employed sole trader for many years now, but still miss the smell of a machine shop (occasionally get a whiff of oil/ cutting fluid) when on a trading estate!
You must be Ken Morse! He and never anybody else was named in the credits of every British telly program in the 80s and 90s that had a rostrum camera operator. I always wondered whether rostrum cameras were ridiculously expensive and so he had the only one in the UK or operating them was incredibly difficult, or maybe he was linked to the Mafia and all the other rostrum camera operators were “sleeping with the fishes” Please for the love of God can you tell me????? I’ve been waiting 30 f*cking years for an answer to that question!
O levels, A levels, degree (Physics)... Railway research (track quality measurement), during which I started to learn software engineering. Cycle racing (amateur), living in a one bed rabbit hutch. Gave up racing when I reached 36 and re-appraised life. Resigned from permie job and went freelance as an IT engineer. Bought a bigger house, started riding motorbikes. Worked in banking, retail, telecoms. Still writing software aged 59. Currently working in the telecoms industry on 5G network assurance using all the latest technology. I have had and continue to have a ball. I am lucky in that I really like doing what I do and it pays very well. I have been jobless for a single period of 26 days over a 37 year working life so far.
I would read anything when I was a kid and I’ve got the scars to prove it as reading at the dinner table was strictly banned so when I turned the HP sauce bottle round to read the ingredients I got rapped across the knuckles with a knife, which caused a deep cut. Or, as the CPS might refer to it “ABH”. Why this was of any interest to me I don’t know, especially as it wasn’t until the advent of the internet that I found out what a tamarind was.
I’m terrible for reading stuff, I have to tell people when I’m in offices to cover up all letters even though they’re upside down as I know I can’t resist reading upside down.
